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[felipepepe]

EDIT: 100-PAGE PREVIEW IS OUT: https://www.mediafire.com/?66nybfqbxfn3p2g

Ladies and gentlemen, after I've finished working on the RPG Codex's Top 70 cRPGs list some weeks ago, I've decided to undertake another madman's task: to compile a glorious book on cRPGs.

Taking in the results, criticism (and limitations) of the voting, I'll be following the same formula, but expanding it into a full guide book to RPG players:

• More than thrice the content, with over 300 games being reviewed through ~480 pages.
• No more rankings; the listing will be chronological, starting at 1978 with the first commercial RPG, Beneath Apple Manor, and including all glaring omissions from the RPG Codex list, like Syrim, Diablo II, etc..
• Longer and passionately written reviews, accompanied by screenshots, curiosities and box arts, that make you want to try out every game.
• Wider participation, no longer restricted to RPG Codex members alone. If anyone pens me a great game review, it's in.
• Devs reviews. I want developers to write about their favorite & most influential games. So far many have joined, such as Chris Avellone who wrote about Wasteland, and Tim Cain who wrote about Star Control II. Expect many more, including Indies developers, modders and journalists. (For the old-timers: Scorpia is in!)
• 100% free, downloadable as a cute .pdf, with bookmarks, hyperlinks and all.
• Hopefully also available as a paperback, to be sold at cost price.

Here's the project's website: https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/

We were recently featured on Kotaku, Ultima Codex and various other websites.

Currently I am:
- Acting like Nick Fury and recruiting extraordinary gentlemen to write reviews & some articles.

How you can help:
- Suggest games that should be reviewed;
- Suggest interesting content that you think should be in, as well as people that should be contacted (like someone from the Circle of Eight to review Temple of Elemental Evil).
- Bitch and moan about stuff. Every feedback is useful.

If you have any further doubts & suggestions, just post here, PM me, tweet me or e-mail me [at] crpgbook at gmail . com

Finally, here's a preview of one of the pages, written by Shanga at Bear's Pit:

 

[Nirolak]

I can't create a new thread, so I'll just post this here, since it's related.

That can be fixed.

Copy bump.

 

[foobarry81]

I would be interested in a paperback copy of this.

What are you criteria for including an RPG in your overview, btw?

 

[HoosTrax]

Very interesting. The previews look great. Is there a list somewhere of what games will be included?

Edit: Is...is...the Skyrim page in Latin???

 

[PandaPedinte]

Good luck with the book!

 

[mmitt]

Edit: Is...is...the Skyrim page in Latin???

Standard placeholder text, it's gibberish

OT: good luck with the project

 

[MikeE21286]

Oh no, not in English

 

[metalmachine]

Thats very awesome!! From the images it looks like it's off to a great start. I'll be looking forward to it. Keep it up!

 

[R1CHO]

A beautiful project, good luck, will follow the progress and may try to write something.

 

[rockmanjoe]

Looks awesome! Looking forward to it!

 

[Chubzdoomer]

That looks fantastic! Very clean, professional layout. I really look forward to the finished product.

 

[Knurek]

More than thrice the content, with over 210 games being reviewed through ~350 pages.

So, not exactly every is it?

 

[Durante]

The best of luck with that! I'd love to buy a physical version at some point.

I do hope you have some free time over the next few years . I just tried to do something far less ambitious, and only for RPGs released in 2014, and it still was quite a lot of work.

 

[BananaSprinkles]

What does the c stand for in cRPG?

 

[mcwizardry]

What does the c stand for in cRPG?

Computer.

 

[esterk]

Wow the layout looks great so far. Good luck!

 

[Sinatar]

Sounds like CRPG Addict's blog, http://crpgaddict.blogspot.ca/ same general idea anyways.

 

[BananaSprinkles]

Computer.

Ah, okay.

 

[PranooY]

The preview looks really nice. Good luck with the book. Would love to read it, once its done.

 

[Just take it with you.]

That looks like quite the undertaking. Looking forward to reading it.

 

[creyas]

Awesome.

 

[Malio]

Amazing! And a very worthwhile effort. I've always considered CRPGs the best, and my absolute favorites.

 

[Corto]

Godspeed Felipe! Reserve one physical copy for me.

 

[mclem]

Edit: Is...is...the Skyrim page in Latin???

It's Lorem Ipsum

 

[eXistor]

Wow, very impressive. Good luck with it. A physical book would be very interesting.

 

[Keasar]

I'd be happy to get a paperback copy of the book when it is finished. If it will be available for us Europeans.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

That screenshot of modded Skyrim is by a Gafer, right? Unreal I think

 

[Joseph Merrick]

beautiful. I'd definitely be interested in buying a physical paperback.

crpgaddict should do this as well at some point. although he writes way too much for each game. hehe.

but I love his master games list https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0Ar06A8hYXxv3dEFVbWJzb1J5S3BqWjRDRng2TUxkUVE&usp=sharing

 

[The Technomancer]

OP, please tell me you're going to cover what I consider one of the more interesting CRPGs I've ever played, Geneforge

 

[thekiddfran]

Any plans to get this in hardback?

I know you want to do this book for free but at least charge something so some people can give you even a little bit of money for the digital copy?

 

[Blargonaut]

I hope you pull through with this OP, your layouts and content look super great! Prince of Qin is an good game to include in your list. It came out in 2002, I posted about it in another thread, here's what it's like:

I fucking love this game. It came out in 2002 on PC, I was 11 when my dad got it for me, SO fucking good. Now THIS game is overlooked and underrated; it's even got:

• Randomly-generated loot (like Diablo).
• Deep storyline with multiple endings!
• Multiple characters who will join your party, each with their own story.
• Magic system based on five elements (Fire, Water, Wood, Earth and Metal), which either boost or negate each other (e.g., fire is boosted by wood, but beaten by water).
• Stats and ITEM DETAILS!
• Skill trees, you like skill trees? Got 'em.
• Party-based and class system (up to 5 party members).
• A full equipment crafting and forging system!
• Tons of enemy variety.
• Full day-night cycle.
• Fucking excellent music.
• Free-roaming open world, chapter-based storyline with a lot of optional side quests!

All wrapped up in an awesome Eastern setting. One of the best and toughest games I've ever played. It had passable voice acting (super crappy, but it's there), but it has a fantastic storyline (it's based off of a 'what if' scenario, if the ancient Chinese Emperor's heir survived instead of died in real life). This game and Baldur's Gate 2 were my PC RPG staples. Some screenshots:

I'm sorry I can't actually contribute to your book (busy with university work) but just thought I'd throw this game out there.

 

[Skelter]

This sounds amazing! I would so be in a physical copy like Durante said.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

This needs some more time on the front page. The preview looks great, OP. I'm working on a similar sort of project (albeit, about a completely different topic) myself, so it only seems right that I support this.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

Princess Maker 2 is not a fan translation. It was in negotiation for a localized release right at the end of the DOS era.

For that matter, make sure to mention more of the obscure Japanese PC CRPGs like Star Cruiser and Sword World, which are quite popular and can be played thanks to sites like Project EGG.

 

[djtiesto]

Quick question: Did you read Dungeons and Desktops by Matt Barton? I recently finished that and he did a decent job with it, though the book mostly had black and white screenshots and was a bit meandering in its prose.

 

[Ruruja]

This looks like a great read. Good luck OP.

 

[shiftplusone]

I hope you pull through with this OP, your layouts and content look super great! Prince of Qin is an good game to include in your list. It came out in 2002, I posted about it in another thread, here's what it's like:


I'm sorry I can't actually contribute to your book (busy with university work) but just thought I'd throw this game out there.

Ive never heard of this and this looks awesome

 

[z1ggy]

This would be amazing if you can finish it. Good luck with it. We are close to another cRPG golden era.

 

[zenosparadox]

No more rankings; the listing will be chronological

I definitely approve of this. Such a book will be informational to most (including me). I like that it will progress through time, adding a sense of change and evolution over time. We do this with history, so why not CRPGs? Sounds good to me.

 

[Chronus]

Your WIP looks great. Will keep an eye out for when it's finished.

 

[TheBowen]

Nice layout and it's quite the undertaking. Would love to get a copy when you have finished it.

Good Luck!

 

[discoalucard]

Definitely consider looking into publishing this on Createspace, which you can sell through Amazon. I did the same for a very large book on point and click adventure games three years ago, and it's done fairly well. The downside is that it will need to be in black and white if you want to be anywhere remotely affordable, but it's an okay tradeoff. If you need any help with the logistics feel free to PM me.

Also, my advice is: don't make it free. Things like this take a lot of work and you deserve to be compensated for your efforts. Making it free devalues the work you put into it. Many (though not all) in my book were republished from my website, but there was still a substantial amount of content only in the book. You can always sell digital versions standalone or on Amazon for a few bucks.

 

[Toxi]

This is awesome. The layout looks nice and including fan translations is a great idea. I also like how frank you are at the beginning.

Hope you can get it published, I'd love to buy a paperback.

 

[Cheddahz]

This looks simply amazing, I'm going to subscribe to the thread, so I can check for updates and what not!

 

[Eternal Gamer]

Have you read Dungeons and Desktops from Matt Barton? is a quite fascinating read but he covers only till 2008 I think so.

 

[icy_eagle]

Posting to subscribe. Good luck on the project.

 

[deim0s]

Nice. Looking forward to this project. Good luck.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

So nice of you! Looks like a fun project. What software are you using to write the book?

 

[Listonosh]

Oh man, I'm very interested in this project. I'd be interested in a physical copy of this whenever this huge undertaking is done.

I'll be keeping a watch on this.

 

[Arulan]

This is an ambitious project. Good luck!

I will be buying a physical copy for sure. You won't have to worry about screenshot restrictions as much this time.